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Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was working to persuade members of the Syrian opposition to attend peace talks in Geneva. The opposition Syrian National Coalition said they have no faith in negotiations with the Assad regime and factions are threatening to boycott the talks.

Speaking ahead of the Friends of Syria summit in London today, Mr Hague said:

"There are different views. We want the moderate opposition in Syria to know that we are behind them going to Geneva, that we will help them, and to persuade them that this is the way, this is the only way."

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Children who have fled Syria at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. Credit: UN World Food Programme

The countries in the "London 11", the core group of the Friends of Syria, will try to shift the focus back to the humanitarian crisis after weeks of international attention on Assad's chemical weapons stockpile.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said the meeting was to "discuss preparations for the Geneva Conference, support for the Syrian National Coalition, and our efforts to achieve a political settlement to this tragic conflict".

Representatives of the Syrian National Coalition's leadership will attend the meeting in London, along with ministers from Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.